Lottery Sales Ahead Of Projections

Tuesday, April 04, 2006 posted 11:13 AM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Close to $20 million in lottery tickets were sold during the first four days of the North Carolina Education Lottery, officials said Monday.

The tickets sales are ahead of projections, and because the lottery was launched a week ahead of the original target date, the state is expected to pocket an extra $8 million in revenue, lottery director Tom Shaheen said.

To keep residents interested in the games over time, Shaheen said new games will be introduced in the coming months to give players more options.

"We'll introduce games such as bingo, maybe a crossword game, most likely introduce a $10 game," he said.

North Carolina also will join the multi-state Powerball game in late May.

Because the initial scratch-off games were successfully launched by the end of March, Shaheen and other lottery officials earned bonuses -- Shaheen earned $50,000 himself.

"Forty-eight percent is going to the government," he said with a laugh. "I'll probably just put (the rest) in the bank. I'm kind of cheap."

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